This blog is about sustainability and, as regular readers know, that includes buildings, infrastructure, lifestyle and the environment.  So, pretty broad. This post reports on both building and lifestyle-

Great news out of Annapolis, MD!  SGT Adam Keys last week received the keys to his smart home where from his iPad he can command the front door to open to his completely accessible dwelling, raise/lower counter tops and hallway closet shelves, and many other amenities of sustainable living for him as shown in the diagram right.

On behalf of the New York Jets football team he owns, Johnson & Johnson heir “Woody” Johnson and his family gave $1M to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation so that two of these homes could be built for seriously wounded vets. The first to be built, on Staten Island, was dedicated a couple of months ago to another IED victim, Army SGT Bryan Dilberian who is also a triple amputee.

Of SGT Keys, Johnson said: “He’s a great man. These are great men.” At the time of his donation last July, Johnson noted: “These veterans have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and deserve a home that supports their specific physical needs to enable them to live independently.” In Keys’s case, that will help unburden his mom, Julie Keys.

On a patrol to disarm IEDs near Kandahar, Afghanistan back in July of 2014, the vehicle Keys was traveling in hit an IED. He suffered brain injury along with broken bones, and, due to blood infection, lost both of his legs above the knee and his left arm. Keys has endured over 100 surgeries since.

Here’s a YouTube video of the ceremony. As a citizen and Navy veteran, I very much appreciate County Executive Steve Shuh’s talk about human freedom supported by the U. S. Armed Forces. “The citizens of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, salute Adam Keys for your dedicated service to our country and for your extreme sacrifice and bravery…congratulations on your new home…”

When asked about how a smart home will impact his life Keys replied, “Getting this home will allow my family and my future family to worry less about me and allow me to be the man I am.”

At the dedication he said: “Overwhelming is not the word.” Keys also thanked the nurses, the medics, the corpsmen…”so I could stand on my own two feet again.”

The parent company of Carpet One donated all of the floor coverings. The Home Depot donated all of the landscaping and a back yard patio and furnishings. Its local employees donated an estimated 1,500-1,600 volunteer hours for the installation work. Other companies also contributed goods and/or services.

Julie Keys was one of 10 who with their Wounded Warrior children have had their stories told in Unbreakable Bonds: The Mighty Moms and Wounded Warriors of Walter Reed.

SGT Keys has spent the last 5 years of his life at Walter Reed. Last year he was flown back to Afghanistan so he could leave it again on his own terms. He will retire from active duty in several weeks.

I’ve written recently about a very ambitious project at Walter Reed that employs the principles of integrative health in helping Wounded Warriors like SGT Keys overcome brain trauma and PST. If you missed it, the post is about the hallowed ground the Green Road Project already is and its tireless brain-child and advocate for holistic healing, Dr. Fred Foote, also a distinguished poet. The project is being sponsored by The Institute for Integrative Health.